BALLSTON LAKE -- Nicole Beardsley may have been a known quantity heading into the 2013 girls lacrosse season, but that didn't make it any easier for opponents to stop her.

The junior attacker led Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake to the Section II Class B championship with 66 goals, 23 assists, 76 ground balls, 61 draw controls, and 29 caused turnovers, and for her efforts in 2013, she has been named The Saratogian's Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year.

"Going into (the season), we generally had a young team, but that's kind of worked for us all these years," Beardsley said. "I had a lot of faith that this team was going to do a lot of great things, and we proved that."

BH-BL came into the season with just a handful of seniors in the starting lineup. However, the squad gelled and improved as the year went along, eventually producing three other Saratogian All-Stars in attacker Jordyn Godfrey, defender Courtney Clark, and goalie Lexie Ball.

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"You could see the difference in play across the board," Beardsley said of the team's progression throughout the season. "It wasn't just a one-man show. It was everyone working together."

The Spartans were seeded third in the Section II Class B tournament and faced a daunting task in the semifinals. No. 2 seed Niskayuna had never lost to BH-BL, and the Spartans came in perceived as an underdog.

Beardsley was forced to the sidelines after two yellow cards and missed the latter stages of the 11-10 comeback victory, but she made up for it in a big way in the sectional final against undefeated Queensbury. Beardsley tallied three goals and an assist as the Spartans pulled off their second straight upset and avenged a loss to that squad in their season opener.

"She's been great to coach," BH-BL head coach Jake McHerron said of Beardsley. "She's one of the hardest workers on the team. She goes day in and day out, she'll stay extra to work on her game to get to the next level. That's what important, for her to be that role model to the kids coming up."

BH-BL's season ended in the regional semifinals with a 19-14 loss to Section I champion John Jay-Cross River. Beardsley, though, did all she could to keep the Spartans alive, posting six goals and an assist in the losing effort.

"It was a great experience," she said of the game. "In a way, we were kind of looked at as the underdog, but in the first half, we proved we were not a team that would easily go down.

"We wish we could have finished the game a little differently, but it's a great experience and a huge learning opportunity for the team going into next year."

While the Spartans lose Godfrey, Clark, and All-Star honorable mention Amy LeBel to graduation, expectations are high for next year's team. The 2014 season will be the last for Beardsley in a Spartan uniform before she begins a collegiate career with Division I power Northwestern, and she made no secret of what she wants to accomplish before her high school days are over.

"I know these girls returning next year are going to want nothing more than to get to where we were, continue to grow, and get even farther," Beardsley said. "Obviously, the dream is to win that state championship.

"I've seen this program from our beginning days, and to be able to get to Cortland would mean everything."